Lingerie
by vivi749
Summary: Inspired by a scene from The Boiler Room Job, but takes place just before.


I'm using this for my Wild Card spot on my Leverage bingo card. I don't own Leverage. Spoilers up to and including The Boiler Room Job.

* * *

_"Wow, that looks amazing on you."_

_"Don't be so surprised. You picked it out."_

* * *

"Dammit Nate! You could have warned me."

"Soph, how was I supposed to know he had one of those foam counter theft measures? It wasn't on the schematics."

Sophie dragged a comb through another lock of her hair, wincing in pain as several of the hairs were yanked out by the roots. For a second she considered just cutting it off, but she enjoyed it the way it was. "Not only is it going to take me all night to get this stuff out of my hair, but that foam also ruined a perfectly good dress and the lingerie I had on underneath. Which I can't exactly replace, since I bought it in Paris more than six years ago."

Nate sighed. He had a feeling he was going to keep hearing about this for a while. By all rights Sophie shouldn't even have been in there. Generally her job was to distract the mark so that Parker could get whatever they needed. But Parker had sprained her knee two days ago and could barely walk, never mind get away if things went badly. So since the vault wasn't that complicated and they already knew the codes, Sophie had taken Parker's job and Nate had taken hers. Everything had seemed to be going fine until Sophie had pulled out the necklace the mark had taken from their latest client.

Apparently, the guy had had a trigger set up on it, and as soon as Sophie lifted it the entire compartment she was in started filling with foam that would have trapped her until the police arrived. Thankfully she'd been already in motion by the time the vault started filling, and had been able to make it to the door. Not before being covered with the stuff though.

Nate's door opened without a knock. Parker limped in, a backpack slung over her shoulder and a shopping bag in her hand. She looked at Sophie and said "Don't do that."

"Do what, Parker?" Sophie replied, still fighting with the latest piece of foam stuck in her hair.

"Stop trying to comb it out. It'll break the hair strands." She walked over to where Sophie was sitting and set down the shopping bag. "Nate, I need a bowl or a big pot, enough to hold about three litres worth of stuff." Most people would have asked what she needed it for, but Nate had long ago learned not to bother. He just went to the kitchen and dug through his cupboard, coming up with a stew pot.

"This big enough?" he asked, holding it up for Parker's inspection. She nodded and he set it on the table beside her. She started adding ingredients to it.

"What is that stuff?" Sophie asked.

"Stuff to take that crap out of your hair. Archie taught me how to make it." Parker finished mixing ingredients and then set it on a chair beside Sophie. "Tilt your head over this so I can get it in your hair."

"Wait a sec," Nate said. He went to the closet and grabbed a couple of towels. He came back and wrapped one around Sophie's shoulders and the other he placed on the floor.

Sophie wrinkled her nose. "This stuff smells awful," she complained. Parker just gave a put upon sigh and gave Sophie's head a slight shove, telling her to get on with it. Sophie gave a growl very like the one that Eliot usually made when someone was annoying him, but did as she was told. Once her hair was soaked in the foul smelling concoction, Parker had her wring it out and then sit back up.

"Now you can comb it. That stuff should just slide out," Parker said.

Sophie reached for the comb but Nate got it first. He gently dragged it through her hair. Parker had been right; the foam slid right out. He wiped it off and continued combing until all of it was gone. Sophie didn't protest; it felt good to let him take care of her. If Parker thought it was odd she didn't say anything. Then again, who knew what Parker would find weird.

"I don't suppose that stuff would take this off of fabric, huh?" Sophie said resignedly. Parker shook her head. Figures.

"You can use it on the rest of you when you shower. It'll take it off skin. Also, it's safe for eyes and you know, other sensitive areas." Parker looked distinctly uncomfortable at that statement and Sophie, distracted by Nate combing her hair, took a second to figure out why. Oh. As in hair elsewhere on her body. If it was anyone else Sophie would have teased them about what they were suggesting, but Parker didn't like being teased. So she just smiled and thanked her. Parker nodded and left.

* * *

"You could try it anyway." Sophie looked at Nate and he shrugged. "If the dress is ruined it isn't like it can get any worse." They were lying in his bed. She'd showered, using Parker's mixture and then her own soap twice (which may have been overkill but she could swear she could still smell it.) Nate told her she smelled like herself, so maybe it was just her mind playing tricks.

She sighed. "It's okay. Actually, I'm more upset about the lingerie. I liked it."

"Have I seen you in it?" She could see him thinking back, remembering several 'dinners' where she'd ended up in his bed.

"Yep. Um, you know that night with the chocolate sauce?" His eyes widened. "That was what I was wearing tonight."

"Crap." She started laughing at him. She couldn't help it. "What, I really liked it, okay?" he said.

"Obviously. Normally you're tearing my clothes off and that one you left on." Which had left crazy wrinkles in it, but still, the look in his eyes had been worth it. That was at least part of why she was so attached to it.

"Guess I'll have to buy you some new ones."

She looked up at him. "You in a lingerie boutique. Yeah right."

He looked offended. "What, you think I'm afraid?"

"Nate, you freaked out in an airport when we ended up with a suitcase full of sex toys." That had been hilarious.

"Well they belonged to someone else! I was afraid to touch the damn things. If they'd actually belonged to us it would've been different."

She stared into his eyes. "You, my friend, are full of what makes the grass grow green."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"R2 is a robot, not an answer," Nate said as he grinned at her.

"Actually, he's a droid. And anyway, so now you think we should have a toy chest, huh?"

Nate shrugged. "I'm perfectly happy with having just us in this bed. But if you want them…" he trailed off for a minute and then grinned again. "I guess I'll have to go to the toy store after I'm done buying the lingerie."

"We." He looked at her, confused, and she said "We will have to go. I'm not stupid enough to set a man free in either of those shops without being there to supervise. God only knows what you'd come back with."

"Hey," he said, looking offended again. "I have good taste."

"In women." She smiled. "But no guy on Earth can know exactly what a woman wants. You aren't equipped," she said, running a hand down his body and stopping in a spot that made his eyes drift half shut.

"So when are we going?" He turned on his side to face her and traced the outline of her lips with a finger.

"Tomorrow. Before you lose your nerve or find a way out of it." She kissed him.

"No faith," he said, shaking his head, but he pulled her on top and kissed her harder.


End file.
